More Web Time = Less Prime Time

The more Web you use, the less TV you watch. Yes, we know. But new numbers from IDC are still striking:i The research firm says that people who describe their Internet use as “frequent” spend more than twice as much time online as they do watching TV.

So what does that mean? More bad news for the TV business, the movie business, the music business and the print business, all of whom are losing eyeballs/buyers to the Web.

A silver lining for old media: IDC’s numbers probably don’t reflect the broader population – yet. While the survey’s Web use numbers jibe with a comScore finding from 2007, which found Internet users spending 29.34 hours online, they’re much higher than other surveys. A USC poll last year pegged Internet use among the broader population at 15.3 hours. And keep in mind that people tend to under-report TV use: Nielsen says the average household still watches 4 hours and 34 minutes of TV per day.